Top of mind: Guest editorials bring perspective on psychiatric care

From the Editor’s Desk

Erica Vonderheid, Editor, Current Psychiatry

“Tell me what you think” is a question psychiatrists often ask when evaluating patients. Current Psychiatry turns the question on its head, providing a platform for leading psychiatric clinicians to tell us exactly what they think. Our editorials—whether written by Current Psychiatry Editor-in-Chief Henry A. Nasrallah, MD, or a member of our esteemed editorial board—are consistently well read and regularly shared across our social media outlets. Recent Guest Editorials include:

Mary D. Moller, DNP, ARNP, PMHCNS-BC, CPRP, FAAN, a leader in the psychiatric nurse practitioner field, examined the growing role of psychiatric nurse practitioners in the mental health workforce and encouraged action to expand practice opportunities. As reported by the National Council for Behavioral Health, the United States is facing the psychiatric workforce shortage, and noted the important role of advanced practice clinicians in addressing that shortage; expanded training of all clinicians was recommended.

Robert M. Anthenelli, MD, encouraged readers to re-examine how much they are doing to help patients quit smoking and presented evidence debunking myths on pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation. Smoking still causes 1 in 10 deaths worldwide, according to a recent article in The Lancet, and that rate is even higher among individuals with mental illness. It is imperative that psychiatrists help their patients quit smoking.

Paul Summergrad, MD, described his professional journey to becoming a medical psychiatrist—a physician focused on the psychiatric manifestations of medical and neurologic disorders—and why integrating medicine and psychiatric care is an essential skill. Increasingly, medical institutions, physicians, and patients are recognizing that combining medical and behavioral health care leads to better outcomes.

For 15 years, Current Psychiatry’s mission has been to deliver practical, evidence-based review articles to our 44,000 readers, who are psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and certified nurse specialists. These editorials build off our core content and provide perspective for psychiatric clinicians.